Halo: Enter Gauntlet
by Szirach
Summary: A promising member of Beta Company is designated Cat-2 shortly after training. Given MJOLNIR armor, he's reassigned to Gauntlet Team and sent to fight against the covenant on the front lines.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

"Alright, let's move onto the next. Winter, bring up the file."

"_Yes, yes, yes. One moment - here we are. Beta-243. Adrien. He's quite exceptional_."

"That so?"

"Sir, my personal recommendation is that he be moved. He's driven, works extremely hard, humble-"

"That alone isn't enough, and you know it."

"Let me finish. He has the fastest reaction times we've charted by a good margin. He's the best in hand-to-hand and close-quarters in Beta by a landslide."

"By how much?"

"He can win three-on-one, and honestly, sir, I suspect he's holding back. He doesn't push himself to the forefront. He could lead, but he acts like the perfect second to his squad leader. Supports his squad. They respect him."

"_He works well in a team, and he's also passed all reconnaissance training with flying colors. Not the best, per se, but he has the skills._"

"Alright, so we're agreed that he's too useful to use on the mainline missions. We could always use more headhunters."

"All due respect, sir, but he'd be wasted as a headhunter. He has the markings of a Cat-2 if I've ever seen one."

"Where do we place him, then? Most of the teams are already set."

"_Gauntlet is lacking a reconnaissance specialist._"

"Fergus' team?"

"_He has done quite well with the members of alpha company that were sent to him. I believe he would be a good match for B243 based on his psych profile._"

"Sounds like a fine idea to me, sir. They're lacking a fifth anyway. Couldn't hurt."

"Why do I feel like the two of you are ganging up on me?"

"Because we are, sir."

"Right. Alright, so we're agreed? Send him to Gauntlet?"

"Yes."

"_Yes_."

"Alright. Winter, get the paperwork done. We can ship him off in two days. Now, onto the next."


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Adrien B-243 sat stiffly on a bench outside of the staff sergeant's office, staring at the featureless wall in front of him. It was steel, he guessed, painted a pale gray - and that was all there was to it. There were no cracks to follow with his eyes as he waited; he could only think aimlessly. He didn't understand what was waiting for him. For the first time in years, he felt nervous. He started bouncing his knee, though otherwise he didn't move. The little jitter helped him focus. Graduation had been only a few days ago; he and the rest of Chakram had been preparing to be deployed. None of them had expected the call to come for him, and considering who it was from, he was worried that he'd secretly failed, or that he'd done something wrong.

How long was he expected to wait? He'd been sitting there for half an hour at this point, doing nothing but thinking. What had he done wrong? He didn't know. Everything had gone well in training and during the tests. His team had been doing well. Why call for him, and not for Janice? She was the squad leader, after all. What had he done wrong?

Forty-five minutes, down to the second, after he'd sat down, the door opened. Staff Sergeant Victor A-013 poked his head out and motioned for him to enter. Adrien rose to his feet and walked in, his knee stopping its jitter the moment he heard the door. Inside, Victor took a seat, Adrien saluted and stood straight, staring evenly at the wall. "Sir," he said. "You wished to see me, sir."

"At ease, Spartan. Take a seat." the sergeant replied. He sounded almost… was that regret Adrien heard in his voice? Nonetheless, he stepped forward and sat down, continuing to stare at the wall. He was expecting a lecture; instead, the sergeant reached beneath his desk and slid a file towards him. His eyes flickered over, and he allowed himself a look of confusion. "Sir?" he asked.

Victor sighed softly and motioned to it. "Open it," he said. "Read the first page."

Adrien turned to the file and reached forward; he flipped the file open and found himself staring at his own face. There were two pictures of him; one when he'd first arrived at the age of ten, and one taken just a week ago at program graduation. He pushed them aside; flipped them over. Looking at his own face made him oddly uncomfortable.

Beneath was his own file; details about age, birth, blood type. A small square next to the word AUGMENTATIONS read "Successful."

His eyes flitted further down, where someone had written a blurb on him. A summary?

"Aloud, please, Spartan."

"Sir. Yes sir," he said, blinking and taking a moment to situate himself. "Subject B-243 shows remarkable empathetic affinity for fellow members of Beta company from the start of the program. Studious. Driven. Functions well alone as well as with others. Post Augmentation: Subject's genetic makeup appears to mesh well with augmentations. Augs have taken hold exceptionally well. Rapid Recovery.

"Subject shows rapid acclimatization to augmentations. Extreme reaction times. Helps younger members of beta-company acclimatize. Subject's earlier talent in close-quarters appears amplified. Designated high skill level. Subject passes all classes and tests with high marks. Special marks in reconnaissance and scouting."

Adrien stopped reading, then. Hearing these kinds of details spoken from his own mouth made him even more uncomfortable than looking at his face. He didn't like singing his own praises, even if they were the words of someone else. He looked up, an eyebrow faintly raised, to Victor. "Sir?" he asked.

The staff sergeant motioned to the file again. "Read the last line."

Adrien nodded and looked back down, his eyes flitting through the last remaining lines. At the end was only a quick sentence. "Subject is designated Category-2 and recommended for redeployment to Gauntlet Team."

Just below was a red stamp that read "APPROVED".

Again, he looked up. He felt… eager, yes, and yet nervous. He wasn't sure he fully enjoyed the idea of leaving his squad - his brothers and sisters. "Sir?" he asked once again.

"Congratulations, spartan," Victor said. He looked at Adrien and smiled - of all things, smiled. In eight years, Adrien had never once seen the man smile. Victor rose to his feet and extended a hand; Adrien rose and cautiously took it. They shook, and the sergeant sat back down. "You're leaving Onyx to go on a special deployment team. Tomorrow at 0600 hours you will present yourself to the airstrip with your things and take a transport to a laboratory where you will undergo fitting and testing with MJOLNIR armor. There you will spend up to a month to get used to it, and then will be shipped off to joint Gauntlet. Don't be late for that transport."

"Sir. Yes sir."

"Dismissed, spartan. Oh, and one final word - you are not to speak any details to your squadmates outside of the fact that you are being redeployed and designated Cat-2. Understood?"

Adrien stood up straight and nodded. "Sir. Yes, sir," he said. He saluted, spun on his heel, and walked out of the office, walking back through the empty halls towards where his squad was bunked.

When he returned, he offered a tight smile to his squadmates and explained his redeployment; he was met with some cheers and a few claps on the back. Packing, of course, took no time at all; a couple sets of clothes and his knives. It all barely filled half of the duffel bag they all had at their disposal. All that was left, then, was time.

In the end, they all decided to kill the time the best way they knew how: moving. As a unit, they made their way to the gymnasium - though Derrick rushed off at some point without explaining why, other than it being important.

The walk took little more than five minutes, and they started stretching and warming up as one. Adrien listened to the idle chatter with a smile, though he remained quiet himself. He was thinking too much to be able to enjoy the conversation, which at this point was revolving mostly about what they think would happen in the upcoming missions, now that beta company was going to be deployed for real. Janice was the one that broke him out of his reverie by punching him in the shoulder with a grin. When he looked at her, she pointed to the entrance; Derrick had returned, along with all of Teams Lance and Bulwark.

"Alright, listen up!" Janice shouted to everyone in range. Adrien listened with one ear as he looked through the new arrivals; there she was. Gen winked at him through the gym as she moved through a warmup, and Janice continued to shout out commands. At 6'1, she was among the shortest in the company, but she was nonetheless a great squad leader. People listened to her - not that they had a choice, of course.

In the end, dodgeball was decided as the time sink. Adrien had played dodgeball often before entering the program, but now that they'd all graduated, it was sure to be something different. They'd played a handful of times. He enjoyed the competition.

They were split into two teams, each totalling nine and consisting of an even mix of all three squads, and then went at it. It was a good thing that the balls were specially reinforced - if they'd had normal ones they'd have been scrapped after the first throws. The match moved quickly. Scoring a hit was a difficult thing to manage when your opponents were trained to dodge gunfire - and, at times, actually could. The balls whizzed through the open air; getting hit without being prepared for it would send you tumbling. Adrien let out a laugh as he tilted his head at the last second, watching the ball barely miss grazing his ear - before he whipped his hand out and caught it. There was a groan from the other side as Guy stepped back out onto the ring, letting out a whoop. Adrien leapt above another ball and, from his airborne position, launched the ball to the other side; he was rewarded when his target was hit in the head and fell to the ground.

The game moved back and forth, back and forth. Dodgeball, admittedly, wasn't the best game to play with spartans, since it moved so quickly, but it did allow them to work up a good sweat. They took a break after an hour; Janice called for them to reconvene in ten minutes.

Adrien let out a pleased sigh and took a seat on a bench, waiting for the line to the water fountain to shorten. A moment later, someone plopped down next to him and rested their head on his shoulder. He smiled, closing his eyes.

"You play dirty," Gen said, poking him in the ribs.

"And you don't?" He replied, opening his eyes to look over at her. She was staring out frontwards, smiling; he let out a gentle sigh as brown eyes slowly found his. "Of course," she replied, sticking her tongue out at him. "Now, what's this about you being reassigned?"

"I don't know the specifics," he said. "And I'm not allowed to say a lot. But I've been designated cat-2, so they're sending me out."

"When are you leaving?"

"Tomorrow," he said. "Oh-six-hundred."

"Damn. That's early."

"Yeah."

"So, what do you say we scram for a little while, let these guys keep beating on each other?"

Adrien paused, looking at his fellows jostling themselves in the lines, laughing and chattering. It would be his last chance to see things like this. It would be his last night here no matter what. He opened his mouth to reply when he saw Janice from a ways away, making a shooing motion towards him.

The last night for many things.

"Alright," he said, rising to his feet. "Let's go."

They left the gym and headed towards the mess hall, walking in silence. At this hour, there would still be a few people there, but after the day and the game they were both getting hungry - and Spartans needed to eat more than most. They moved quietly, at ease with one another. They'd first started interacting during a training exercise a year before augmentation and had been close ever since, different squads be damned. He would miss her, he realized as they walked, and more than he'd miss almost any of the others. He didn't know if there would be others on the transport, though a few others had been pulled other the past two months. Most of Beta company would simply move on without them.

They talked about random things as they got their rations and ate. The mess hall wasn't all that full, in the end - for the next few days, meal hour wasn't quite as strictly regimented, giving the spartans a little leeway. Only a few tables were properly occupied, and they managed to get one just to themselves. Adrien offered some waves to the other tables now and then, but for the most part he focused on Gen. When at last the conversation lulled, he watched her eat intently.

"You'll come by the barracks tomorrow morning, right?" she asked eventually, her eyes flicking up at him. "We don't have anything scheduled, so I'll come see you off."

"Yeah," he replied. "Sure thing."

They left the mess hall soon after, wandering through Currahee. At some point - Adrien wasn't counting the minutes anymore - Gen reached out and took his hand, pulling him close. They walked in companionable silence. She was the one that broke it, in the end. "Want to kill some time?" she asked him.

He paused mid-stride, finding himself deep in thought. "Last night," he said with a small nod, looking at her. Her eyes seemed oddly wide, and he smiled, reaching out to push a rogue strand of hair off her forehead. "Why not?"

* * *

He got back to his bunks late; there was some teasing from the others about his disheveled state, which he retaliated to with friendly shoulder-punches. He needed to sleep, he knew that, but if he was leaving he couldn't just go already. So he stayed up another hour, chatting with the others, acting as if everything were still the same. As if he weren't leaving the next day. In the end, however, he needed to get to bed; he undressed, lay down, and was out before he knew it.

He woke up early the next day, before sunrise. Looking at the clock, he had an hour before he needed to be at the airstrip. As quietly as he could, he got dressed and walked out of the room. Janice was leaning against the wall next to the door, looking up at the ceiling.

"I was wondering when you'd be up."

"Not going to reprimand me for not saying goodbye?"

"Nah," she said, reaching out and slugging him in the shoulder. "I know you will. Besides, I'll have them all awake and at the airstrip when it's time. Figured you might want some time to yourself. Not that you won't be getting plenty of that."

"Yeah," he said with a small sigh. "Well, I'm going to get something to eat. See you in a bit?"

"See you in a bit," she replied before moving back into the room. The door closed, and Adrien was alone in the hallway.

The mess hall was utterly empty when he arrived. He ate in contemplative silence next to the door, staring at the wall. His thoughts were oddly blank. Leaving Camp Currahee didn't excite him as much as he'd thought it might. But this morning, he couldn't afford to waste time; he headed back into the sleeping quarters and found Team Lance's room. The door opened silently, and he made his way to Gen's bunk. She looked peaceful when she was sleeping. More than she usually did. He reached out and shook her shoulder, muttering for her to wake up. Her hand reached for his wrist before her eyes even opened; only when she saw him did she relax. She motioned for him to wait, then got dressed quickly. They made their way out of the room together, headed for the airstrip.

The rest of Chakram was already there when they arrived; Janice carried Adrien's bag over her shoulder. With a smile, he hugged each of them in turn before taking the bag and holding it in one hand. The transport was already there, waiting.

"I'm gonna miss you guys," he said, looking back at them all. "Take care, alright?"

"We can handle ourselves," Gen replied with a smile.

Janice laughed. "Yeah, don't you worry about us, Ade. And you make us proud, you hear me? Or else I'm gonna find you and kick your ass."

"I plan to," he said with one last salute. Someone called his name from within the pelican, and with a nod he was on his way over. He got strapped in and set his bag into the cargo area. There were, to his suprise, three others in the transport. Raquel, Jordan and Michael all offered a wave as he settled in, and he found himself smiling. "Well, I'm glad I'm not going to be alone," Adrien said as the pelican's rear bay door closed. They could faintly hear the roar of the engines as the pelican started up; a faint jolt as it pulled off of the ground and started flying up.

"You said it," Jordan replied. "The way they explained everything to me, I thought I was going to be all alone before I shipped out. At least now I know I get to beat on the rest of you."

"Where do you think we'll be going for armor fitting?" Michael asked, looking at each of the three others in turn. "They didn't tell me anything."

"I don't think any of us are supposed to know," Adrien hazarded. "They don't want the covenant finding anything like that out. Could you imagine what would happen if they did?"

"Lots of explosions," Jordan said, tapping her foot on the ground. "Damn. I think I'm actually gonna _miss_ camp Currahee. Who'da thought."

"Well, all things considered, it _was_ home," Raquel said, offering a shrug. "I can barely remember what it was like before."

"That's because you're one of the youngest," Michael replied with a chuckle.

Adrien smiled at the teasing, but the truth was, he couldn't remember what things had been like before Currahee, either. He'd been ten when he arrived, and the intensity of everything since then had all but wiped his memories of the time before out. He could remember a few things, but his time at the orphanage was fuzzy. He figured it was better this way. He would remember his brothers and sisters. That and his desire to fight the covenant. That was good enough for him.

They all grew quiet as they flew out of Onyx's orbit, up towards the corvette that was waiting for them. It was a small thing and, if Adrien had to guess by the particular shape he could gleam through the front viewport, was likely a prowler, which made sense. A stealth corvette would mean less chances of Onyx being discovered.

The bay door opened as soon as they landed, and a sergeant ushered them out. He spoke little, leading the way to what would be their cabins for the trip. They were each put in separate rooms right next to one another, seeing only a spattering of crew members. When the door closed, Adrien put his bag down and glanced around the room. The trip would likely take a few days, perhaps a week, and he knew that there would be much to do. For the time being, however, he allowed himself to fall on his bed and nap.

He wasn't sure how much time had passed when he awoke; what roused him was a knock at his door. Adrien rose to his feet and shook his head to clear what remained of the sleepiness. Jordan was the one who'd knocked; she looked him up and down as the door opened. "We're going to grab lunch," she said. "Wanna come?"

Adrien nodded, passing a hand through his hair. "Yeah," he replied. "Sure thing."

He stepped into the hallway and closed the door behind him; Jordan lead the way towards the mess hall. "We've been exploring," she said. "The crew here is _tiny_. Passengers are us and the pelican pilot. We've basically doubled the amount of hands on board. Good amount of room for passengers, though. Max capacity is somewhere around twenty, according to Raq's guess."

"Guess?" Adrien replied, raising an eyebrow. "So she counted the number of rooms, you mean."

"Well… yeah. But there could always be more than what's in the rooms. She did some guesses based on life support systems and whatnot. Did you know they don't want us on the bridge? We're free to roam, but that's restricted."

"They must really not want us to know where we're headed."

"Yeah. Must be."

By then they'd reached the mess hall, and walked over to where their fellow spartans were eating. Only two members of the crew were there, speaking in hushed tones. Adrien spared them a momentary glance before picking up rations and taking a seat. "Is the gym any good?" he asked, looking between the others. Michael shrugged. "It's functional, I guess. Could do with some heavier weights, but I guess this was a last-minute thing, or maybe they really don't expect this trip to last long."

"At that point, why not send us into cryo-sleep for the duration?" Raquel wondered aloud. "It's not like they'd need to worry about us when we're asleep."

"Who knows," Jordan said. "Adults are weird."

"Roger that," Michael agreed, leaning back in his seat - it creaked in protest. "So the ship's small, their gym is made for regular military personnel, and we've got days with nothing but free time. What do we do?"

They decided on sparring, since it was the easiest thing for them to manage without figuring out how to squeeze load lifters onto a barbell. It also meant that Adrien would find himself outnumbered more often than not. For once, he felt just fine about that. After eating, they took some time to set up an impromptu sparring ring, using some crates to determine the corners. Then they were ready. Raquel and Jordan went at it first, moving with quick, precise strikes. Jordan was stronger, but a little slower and less exacting in her technique. It was the kind of thing Adrien picked up on, now. He'd give her some suggestions over the next few days. How to correct her footing, so that when Raq kicked out low she wouldn't stumble as easily. It was a good fight nonetheless, and both of the girls were getting into it. Raq had the upper hand, at least until Jordan managed to grab her and tossed her to the ground, pinning her down. Only then did Adrien let out a sharp whistle, calling the match. "Point to Jordan," he said, leaning back. "Take your spots."

Raquel looked up, then peered at Jordan and let out a small bark of laughter. "How about we switch it up?" she asked. "Ade, how about you?"

Jordan let go and stood back, shaking her head. "Uh-uh. No way. I'm not falling for that again."

"You've improved a lot since the last time," Adrien said. "Though you need to work on your keeping your feet at the right width."

"No way."

"Oh, c'mon," Raquel replied with a cheeky grin as she backpedaled out of the ring. "You won against me."

Michael simply laughed from his seat in the corner. Jordan grimaced, then sighed. "Fine. But you get to go after him next."

Adrien nodded and stepped into the ring, taking position. Jordan stood in front of him; a little shorter, a little smaller. Not by much. They nodded to each other and stood in silence. Michael called the start of the match.

Jordan struck first, closing the distance and rapidly striking at Adrien with her fists, followed by a drop to the ground as she attempted to sweep his legs from under him. Adrien grinned as Spartan Time kicked in. He blocked her kick with a subtle motion; nothing more than a slight raising and twisting of his foot. He brought it down on her ankle, stopping the blow in its tracks, then raised that same foot and aimed a side kick at her face - stopping only a hair's breadth from her nose.

All in all, it was over in perhaps three seconds. Adrien lowered his foot and reached out to help her up; Jordan scoffed, but took the hand, staring pointedly at Raquel. "See?" she said. "You get to take him on next."

"Not before I get a turn!" Michael called out, jumping off of his crate. "You girls can wait."

Of course, Michael didn't win either, though he lasted four seconds. Raquel didn't manage much better. Raquel and Jordan together managed to last a minute, but Adrien was grinning the entire time. When Michael jumped in, he narrowed his eyes. This wasn't a sparring match, anymore. It was still friendly, sure, but the others wanted to get him down. They wanted to see if they could get him down.

They didn't stand a chance.

Adrien moved like a whirlwind between them, dividing their fronts, not giving them a moment to properly launch an attack. He played defensively, but used their strength against them; when Jordan charged, her flipped her into Michael, then dropped and swept Raquel's legs out from under her. On a few occasions, they actually did make him sweat; Jordan managed to pin him and the others started attacking, or Raquel managed to stop him from landing evenly at just the right moment for Michael to tackle him. It went on, and on, and on. Time was meaningless; all they could focus on was the competition.

At least until the door opened and an officer walked in. "What's going on, here?" he asked. As one, the four spartans stood straight up and saluted. "Sir," Adrien said. "Sparring, sir."

"Cut it out, soldiers. The scientists will have our heads if any one of you injures yourselves. Find something else to do."

"Sir, yes sir," they echoed as one. The officer looked at them for a moment, then shook his head and left the cargo hold. Adrien looked to the others with a sigh; Raquel had an irritated grimace on her face. "So much for that," she muttered. "Maybe they'll have books?"

"Yeah, maybe," Michael replied.

Only one thing was certain, now; this was, indeed, going to be a very long ride.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Waking up from cryo-sleep was a strange feeling to get used to. It wasn't quite like sleep - rather, it was as if time just skipped. Adrien opened his eyes onto the cryotank opening up, and took a moment to gather his bearings. If he was being unfrozen, that meant that the ship was nearing its destination at last. He opened and closed his mouth a couple times, passing his tongue around his mouth to clear the taste of sleep from it, then slowly sat up.

The cryobay of the _Feet First_ took a moment for him to get used to - after which, when passing a hand through his hair, he was rather suddenly reminded of what he was wearing. He'd almost forgotten - which, he supposed, was a good sign. The scientists in the facility on… actually, he'd never been told where the facility was, which he supposed was how ONI wanted it. He'd been tested and fitted the moment he arrived, and in the end had spent weeks afterwards acclimatizing to the armor. Learning how to walk had been the biggest change, but once he'd figured that part out, the rest had come quickly. Raquel had been the first to leave for reassignment, followed by Michael. Adrien assumed Jordan must have been gone by now. He didn't know yet how long he'd been out.

"Good morning, Adrien," came a voice from somewhere to the right - the Spartan turned and nodded in reply. "Doctor," he said, stepping out of the cryotank and back onto solid ground. Solid-ish, really. "How long have I been out?"

"Thirteen days and sixteen hours," she said, smiling up. "The jump took a little longer than expected. The crew and I were only woken up a short time ago. Are you feeling well?"

Adrien rolled his head from side to side, then nodded. "Operational," he said. "Feeling fine."

"Good," she replied, approaching to quickly glance over his armor. "Ready for the tests?"

"Yes, ma'am," he said, nodding. He reached back into the tank to grab his helmet, then moved to follow her. The woman was almost disturbingly chipper at all times, and it had taken him quite some time to get used to that - more than it had for the armor, really. She walked quickly, so much so that were it not the height difference of two feet between them, Adrien likely would have needed to jog to follow her. As it was, he carried his helm under one arm and ducked to get through the various doors they crossed before they came to the Lab. The Lab wasn't it's official name, of course, but it was what Adrien had called it since he'd first seen it on the ship. Doctor Kisha Matthews had commandeered it for this exact purpose - checking him over once they arrived to make sure all systems were functional. The main attraction was a device in the center; at her behest, he walked up to it, slid his helmet on, and stood. Then the waiting began. Matthews had him raise one arm, then another; she checked the electronics of the suit both manually and via scanners, making sure every system was functioning at optimal capacity. It took nearly an hour, between tests and movements and Matthews muttering away at herself and taking notes on a PDA.

"Okay, it's done," she said at last, nearly an hour in. Adrien actually had a moment's hesitation, though he didn't move. He nodded at last, turning to look at her through his helm. "That's it, then?" he asked after a moment's silence.

"That's it," she replied with a nod, flashing him a smile. "Now, the locker you asked us to bring is over in the corner, there. Everything's in. Nice collection of knives, by the way."

Adrien didn't reply, he merely walked over to the storage locker, pushing a table slightly out of the way with one arm. He knelt next to it and opened it up, quickly peering over what was within. He started with his knives, which he'd brought all the way from Currahee. While he was at the research station he'd asked for sheaths to be set into his armor where possible, and he set about filling them now; a knife slid underneath each of his shoulder plates, one on either side of the back of his waist. He attached another knife sheath onto the right side of his chestplate, and then set about attaching the various supply pouches he'd requested onto his armor. While empty for the moment, he'd be able to fill them with ammunition soon enough. Lastly came a large machete that he strapped to the outside of his shin.

And then he reached in and pulled out the firearms he'd requested. He had half expected the requests to be denied, so it was with no small amount of pleasure that he pulled out two M7Ss. He quickly flipped them over in his hands to inspect them, but as best he could tell they were brand new. He nodded to himself and attached them to the magstrips on his thighs before repeating the process for the other two weapons there, an M6C/SOCOM and an M45E. He actually scoffed in surprise when he looked over the shotgun, realizing that every single one of the requests had been filled. Perhaps they really wanted him to be well-equipped.

When he turned his head towards Matthews, she must have somehow understood what he was asking himself; she leaned back against her desk and smiled. "Consider those a gift," she explained. "A few strings pulled, all that. If our reports from other spartan fireteams are anything to go by, I suspect most of those will get lost or replaced as you go through missions, but we figured that having you well-equipped wasn't a bad idea."

Adrien looked at her through the Y-shape of his visor and, after a moment, nodded. "Thank you," he said. "Is this everything?"

Matthews jumped down from her seat and made a beeline out of the lab; once again Adrien was following her. This time, they were moving towards the bridge, which he hadn't actually seen when he'd first boarded. They'd shipped him directly off to the cryo-bay for freezing and transportation. It wasn't a very large bridge - not that he'd seen many in the flesh - but it held all the necessities.

The man he remembered as the captain was leaning over a holotable, discussing with a lieutenant. They both turned eyes on him as he stepped through the door. Really, everyone on the bridge did, taking a moment to stare at the Spartan in their midst. Adrien focused his gaze on the table, stepping up to it and saluting the captain. "Sir," he said. "What's the word?"

The captain looked up at him and motioned to the table. "Rendezvous point had to be changed. Covenant forces approaching cut off the _Easy is the Descent_ and it had to pull back. We'll be arriving in the hour - you'll transfer over via shuttle and then be briefed in full with Gauntlet. Any questions?" he asked.

Adrien looked over the holomap, reaching out to manipulate some of the information being brought up. If covenant ships had been spotted, that meant moving would become more dangerous as they went along. But where were they, exactly?

There. In a few moments he had the data - Alpha Aurigae, the Origami Asteroid field. From what he'd studied, it was still in tatters from the battle that had occurred the year before he was born. He guessed they were here so that the asteroid fields would provide cover for the transfer. It made sense, though he found himself wondering where they could possibly be sent after the fact. Oh well. He would get his orders when he got them, and not a moment sooner.

"No, sir," he replied after the brief pause his research had taken, rising back up to full height.

"Good," the captain replied. "Dismissed, Spartan. Make your way to the hangar bay. You'll be transferred the moment we rendezvous with the _Descent_."

Adrien saluted and turned away from the console, walking out of the command center and making his way down the corridor. Matthews followed him once again, and this time she was the one who had to run to keep up with him; the thought did make him smile, if faintly. He moved as if he had a purpose, ignoring most of those around him. It was just as well, since half of the men he walked past stared up in awe, and he wasn't looking for the attention. He turned here and there until he found the right lift, and barely waited for Matthews to get in next to him before he tapped the button leading to hangar level with the bottom of a loose fist. The ride down was quick and quiet. Matthews looked like she wanted to say something, but Adrien stood straight and statuesquely stiff, staring out of the door, counting the seconds until - if the _Descent_ arrived when it was supposed to - he would be transported over to the other ship. He was eager, he recognized at last. Not nervous, not like he had been a month and a half ago. He was going to be with Spartans. He was going to find his family once again. He was going to fight.

He was going to rip and tear the covenant asunder, bit by bit. There was a flare of anger, then, fueled by images burned into his brain from events years past. Running, smelling smoke, seeing the sky burn. His father pulling him along in the street, a building falling on top of him. Trying to clear the rubble, until soldiers took him away. He realized two things, then. First, that he couldn't remember his father's face - any of his family's faces. Second, that his hand had closed into a tight fist. He took a deep breath and loosened it, slowly letting out his breath as the lift came to a stop. He needed to calm down. He needed to focus. He wasn't some dumb kid looking for revenge. He was a soldier, now. He was a Spartan.

He stepped out and into the hangar. There was surprisingly little bustle; this ship wasn't being sent into battle just yet, and so there was no need to mobilize. The only ship being readied was a pelican, which he assumed was going to be bringing him over. Not a bad choice. He appreciated using that as opposed to a modified lifeboat.

The distance to the pelican was closed in only a few moments, and he took a moment to look it over. He was no pilot, of course, though he had the training to fly or drive just about anything if he needed to. But looking it over allowed the reality to sink in. No more constant tests. No more practice. No more scientists hovering over him. Now, after all these years, things were going to get started, and most importantly, he felt _ready_. He felt like this was what he had been born to do. And so, with nothing to do but count the seconds, he stepped onto the pelican and sat down on one of the seats in the bay. No one said anything; those few crewmen that were checking it over just gave him space. He figured he would get a moment alone, until a pair of feet stopped just within his frame of view. He glanced up and found himself nearly face-to-face with Matthews - damn, was the woman _short_ \- and he paused. She smiled at him; she appeared almost sad.

"Well, Adrien, this is it," she said. "This is where I say goodbye. It's been a pleasure working with you. Stay safe out there, would you?"

Adrien huffed at that. "I can't make any promises, doctor," he replied. "But I don't plan on dying anytime soon."

"Good, good," she said - and then before he could move away, she reached out and hugged him. Tried to, anyway; her arms could barely squeeze around his shoulders, and he let himself he pulled down. "Go kick some ass, kid," she murmured to him - and then pulled back, as if nothing had happened. "Well, I should go. My bosses are going to want a report as soon as possible. See you around, Spartan."

She turned to leave; Adrien actually found himself at a loss for words for a brief moment. Then he rose to his feet, walked over to the rear of the pelican and, holding onto the frame, called out. "Doc!" he said - not loudly, but loud enough to travel. She paused and turned around, and he depolarized his visor. That was one of the things that had been interesting to learn about Mjolnir - everything was controlled via his neural interface. No pesky buttons like there were on SPI armor, or ODST gear. He could adjust most functions with a thought.

"Thank you," he said at last - and she smiled again, waved, and was on her way. Adrien returned to his seat and waited in silence, his visor opaque once again. No one said anything, none of the crewmen commented, but he found himself wondering what they thought. He didn't ask, of course. He sat back in his seat and closed his eyes, counting the seconds. He didn't have much to think about for the moment, anyway, and counting was one way of passing the time. After a quarter hour, however, he started thinking his way through his martial arts, then making a mental checklist of all the equipment he had - armor, guns, knives, making sure he hadn't forgotten anything. He would need to collect ammunition, but otherwise all was as it should be. He sat back and closed his eyes, letting his mind go blank.

It wasn't meditation, exactly, though a few members of Beta had tried to teach him how to do that early-on. This was more like clearing his mind entirely. Not quite sleep, but something close to it. A way to pass the time when there was absolutely nothing to do. He almost did end up dosing, however, at least until the pelican shook slightly. His opened his eyes and glanced towards the now-closing cargo bay door, and he rose to his feet. His steps took him towards the cockpit near the front of the vessel, where he walked in to look out the front, latching onto part of the frame to steady himself as the vessel picked itself off of the hangar bay and flew out into the dark beyond.

The pilot looked over at him for a brief moment, then turned back to his controls and shrugged. Adrien found himself smiling. "Wanted to see the asteroids," he commented.

"Not much to see," the pilot replied. "They're half rubble, and we'll only be flying for about five minutes."

But a peaceful five minutes they were; Adrien let his eyes wander through the field. Most of the asteroids couldn't actually be seen, of course. The field was wide, and densely packed, but space was bigger. In reality, he just enjoyed looking at space. Staring out at the stars. He went quiet, and the pilot began humming softly as they moved towards the _Descent_. In essence, it looked exactly like the _Feet First_ from a distance, both being _Stalwart_-class. The differences were subtle, and it took until he was closer to pick up on them. The _Descent_ was newer, but it had also seen more combat. There were faint scars on it where plating had been modified and repaired. The color was slightly different overall. And when they flew in through the hangar bay, seeing several squads of marines running through the hangar below became the biggest one.

As the pelican landed, Adrien moved back into the cargo bay and stood, holding one of the support straps as he waited. There was a faint rumble and shake as the pelican set down, and then all was released. There was a hiss as the cargo bay doors unlocked and began opening, and the pilot poked his head out from the cockpit. "Good fighting, Spartan!" he called out before moving back to his controls. Adrien offered him a nod, though the pilot couldn't see it, before walking down the ramp and stepping off into the hangar bay.

He hadn't been wrong. Marines and ODSTs appeared to be working through drills supervised by a noncom, and he let his eyes wander. Crewmen taking a break, engineers huddling together - there. They'd just entered the cargo bay. One officer - a lieutenant-commander, based on his stripes - and a Spartan marched over. It only took a moment looking him over - the gray-green, baseline Mark IV, the excessively tall stature - taller than Adrien by two inches or so, at least - and the numerals 014 printed on his left breastplate in white to know who it was. This was his new commanding officer.

The two stepped up to him as one, and immediately Adrien saluted. "Sir! Spartan B-243 reporting for duty, sir!"

"At ease," the lieutenant said, and Adrien joined his hands behind his back, standing with his back straight and his legs at just slightly less than shoulder width. The Spartan looked him up and down, then swiped two fingers over his faceplate. It was a subtle thing, but it made Adrien relax. He copied the gesture, then, his stance loosening slightly. A sign of welcome, the kind outsiders wouldn't understand. The Spartan nodded, then raised the same hand again and wiggled one finger in a circle; Adrien complied, raising his arms and turning on himself slowly, waiting for a faint grunt before he moved on. At last the Spartan looked at him and nodded, and Adrien returned his hands behind his back. "Good selection," he told him, before looking to the officer. "I'll take him from here, lieutenant. Thank you."

The sailor looked between the two of them and nodded. "We'll be departing within the hour, Spartans," he told them. "I'll report arrival to the captain."

When the man was gone, the Spartan reached out and bumped Adrien on the shoulder before motioning to the entrance of the hangar bay. When he flicked a finger out, Adrien did as requested, opening a private comm frequency - it took him a moment to key in on the other Spartan's.

"Nice meeting you, Adrien," the Spartan said as they made their way towards the exit. "I'm glad to welcome you to Gauntlet. Before anyone asks, you're Gauntlet Five."

"Sir, thank you, sir," Adrien replied.

"No need for that, Spartan. Call me Fergus."

"Fergus. Got it."

They walked past a number of marines and Sailors; Adrien wasn't sure if they were staring at him or at Fergus. Maybe both.

"Now, I've read your file, but I want your take on things too. ONI tells me you're going to be our recon specialist, even if you specialize in close quarters?" Fergus asked him, briefly looking back over his shoulder.

Adrien nodded. "Affirmative."

"Well, talk to me. What's your skillset?"

"Full graduation, but I specialize in close quarters and hand-to-hand. Best in Beta, according to what my file said. Sixth-highest for reconnaissance missions."

Fergus let out a small chuckle. "There's bound to be more to you than that, Adrien, but we'll figure that out as we go along. You feeling ready to meet the team?"

"Yes."

"Don't worry," Fergus replied. "We're all the same, in the end, and we'll have some time to get to know each other better during slipspace. We'll be starting Operation: GLASSBLOWER as soon as we're ready to depart. I'll be briefing the entire team after introductions are over."

"Understood."

"Good," Fergus replied as he stepped into a lift. Adrien followed, and then turned towards the door as one before Fergus punched in the deck number. The lift began rising immediately, and they rode it in silence. When it stopped, they stepped off just before more sailors got on, and moved through corridors in silence. At last they reached a closed door, which opened at Fergus' command. Adrien followed him inside; three other spartans were discussing something over in a corner; two were standing while the third sat in a corner, filling a magazine. By the way they were looking at each other, Adrien could tell they were speaking even if he wasn't on the channel.

They stopped when he stepped in, turning to look over at him. Fergus looked at them all, then reached up and pulled off his helmet in one smooth motion, holding it under one arm. Everyone else, Adrien included, followed suit.

He almost laughed, then, but didn't; instead, he cracked a faint smile as he looked at the others. Fergus looked almost exactly as he'd imagined him; dark-skinned, dark-eyed, with closely-cropped hair and a square jaw. The others Fergus introduced in turn. "Meet Gauntlet team," he said. "That's James," he said first, pointing to one of the two Spartans who'd been standing. His armor sported a gray and green emblem on the torso. "Our intel specialist and tactical coordinator. Dana is our sniper," he said of the other standing Spartan. She nodded, returning the smile; her eyes were a grayish green, her hair a light golden color, and there was a violet emblem on her pauldron. There was a nick on her jaw. Adrien took a moment to realize that she looked younger than the others - actually, she didn't look much older than him, if at all.

"And Ezekiel, last but not least, is our demolitions expert. Just don't interrupt him when he's working. We like for the bombs to go off when we plan for them to."

Ezekiel grinned at that. "Don't listen to the chief," he told Adrien. "He's still mad about what happened a few years back."

"Right, and I'd rather it not be repeated," Fergus replied, though he too was smiling. "Ezekiel is Gauntlet two, James is Gauntlet three, and Dana is Gauntlet four. Everyone else, meet Adrien, Gauntlet five. "

Adrien nodded, and Dana swiped two fingers across her face, where her visor would likely be if she still had her helm on. It made him feel a little more at home.

"Adrien's the recon specialist that ONI promised us," Fergus said. "So Adrien, Dana, you two are going to be battle-buddies from here on out. With the two of you working in tandem, the covenant won't know what hit them."

"Sir," the two spartans said in unison, nodding to him. Adrien glanced at Dana afterwards; she looked back, suppressing a smile. Well, at least he didn't need to worry about not fitting in. He'd only realized when walking in that he'd feared that. All Spartans from Alpha company - lead by an original Spartan, of all things. It was a high bar to step up to. Rather, it had seemed that way at first. Fergus nodded, then motioned them all over to a table in the center of the room. They moved as one, clearing out a few items set here and there and lining their helmets along the edge. They organized themselves, either intentionally or not, from Gauntlet 2 to 5 along one edge of the table, while Fergus set up on the other side. When he powered on the table, a starmap took shape on it. "Operation: GLASSBLOWER is the official title for our next mission," he told them. "Based on sightings of covenant vessels, we believe the enemy is using Alluvian as a supply stop. After Alluvian was glassed in 2542, it was expected to be abandoned, but ONI long-distance recon found that covenant forces may be using the remains of the planet, or the non-glassed areas, as a pit-stop for ships travelling inwards from the outer colonies.

"Official mission outlines are as follows: the _Easy is the Descent_ will jump into the Bhaakto system. We will first await any sign of covenant movement, sending out unmanned probes to confirm ONI's readings. Once covenant sightings are established, the _Descent_ will approach the planet via an AI-calculated route to avoid contact. Gauntlet Team, along with a contingent of ODSTs, will then land on-world nearest covenant emplacements as can be risked. The strike force will then move through the remains, scout out the emplacements, and destroy them based on intelligence gathered on the ground. We'll be moving fast and as light as we can manage. Any questions?"

No voice was raised, no question asked. Fergus looked at them all, and Adrien nodded faintly when his gaze turned to him. "We jump into slipspace within the hour, Gauntlet," Fergus told them. "Get ready."


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"_Confirm standing by_."

"_Gauntlet one, standby confirmed_."

"_Gauntlet two, standby confirmed._"

"_Gauntlet three, standby confirmed._"

"_Gauntlet four, standby confirmed._"

"Gauntlet five, standby confirmed," Adrien said into his mic, staring out at the gray steel of the innards of the _Descent_. He was set tightly into his SOEIV, waiting quietly. It wasn't his first drop, of course, but this would be his first in a real operation.

"_Confirmed standby for Gauntlet. Confirmed standby for combat teams Bravo and Ocelot. Standing by for drop greenlight. _Descent _beginning gravitational entry._"

The pods shook as they moved into drop position, shifting back towards the bay doors and rotating a rocky 180 degrees. Adrien found himself momentarily looking at the pod of one of the accompanying ODSTs before they stopped, the pods rocking very faintly as the frigate dove down towards the upper atmosphere. The entry plan was simple; after they'd confirmed the departure of the latest covenant ship, the _Descent_ had taken a careful route to approach the planet. It would launch all available SOEIVs down to secure a forward position. Then, it would launch two pelicans - each carrying supplies and ammunition, a Warthog, and a small detachment of troops - before breaking away. They didn't need to drop far, which meant they would be launching momentarily. All he was doing now was waiting for the call.

"_Light is green!_" came the call, but a moment before the pods began launching. One at a time, there was hardly a moment between each before they rocketed out of the frigate, staring at… nothing. Alluvion hadn't been glassed as thoroughly as some locations. There was still an atmosphere present, though it had thickened considerably since the covenant had taken hold, and surface temperatures were much colder -where they weren't much hotter - than they had been. Human settlements had been completely destroyed, but much of the natural rock formations were still around.

Adrien saw black as they flew in under the cover of night, looking out through the viewport to spot the other pods. Their entry path had been precalculated, but the chances were that manual readjustments would be needed. The drop was silent inside the pod; it was sealed, and nothing went in or out. He only began hearing sound when they hit atmosphere, a faint rumbling that soon grew louder. He turned his head to look at pod diagnostics. Everything came up green. Heat shielding held. Acceleration was as planned. That was when he became aware that the others had disappeared - no, not disappeared, they'd entered a high altitude cloud layer. It took him a moment later. Now he wasn't just staring at blackness, but at foggy blackness. Water condensation formed on the viewport, and he waited. Five. Four. Three. Two. One. He'd hit terminal velocity some few seconds back, and he punched through the cloud layer into an even deeper blackness, a night of no stars. Beyond he could just spot the signal lights of his team's pods, barely visible. They were ordered into comms blackout during the fall to not alert the enemy forces, should they have an ear open. So they were falling blind onto what was believed to be a canyon - though they had no way to confirm. It might be glassed, or it might have avoided the worst of it. They couldn't be sure.

A kilometer above surface level, Adrien felt a jolt as the chute opened, slowing the pod down considerably. He felt heavier as the pod began to slow, though faintly - until at last the braking rockets engaged mere moments before he hit the ground in a violent crash. It was a jolt, and he readied himself to exit.

He waited. The hatch didn't open. In the dim red light within the pod, he looked up at the diagnostics console. Hatch ejection had been triggered, but it hadn't moved. Perhaps it had been damaged in the landing. Pushing himself back into his seat, he raised his legs and kicked with all the force of augmented muscle and MJOLNIR. The top of the hatch all but ripped off, bending at a sharp angle a little below the halfway mark. Not hardware failure, then. He'd hit the ground hard enough for the pod to bury itself nearly halfway. With a grunt, he kicked again and again, slowly battering the rock behind the hatch, until he had enough room to maneuver. He turned around and began pulling out his weapons, holstering them accordingly, when his HUD's squad lights went active. Fergus flashed out a quick sequence to verify everyone's drop status; Adrien replied with a single flash of an amber acknowledgement light, followed by green, but without active comms it would be difficult to say much else. He quickly filled his pouches with extra ammunition, checked on his knives, and then pulled out his shotgun. He tossed it out onto the rock beyond before loading up on grenades - Ezekiel had been adamant that all members of Gauntlet carry no less than four at all times.

When at last his SOEIV was stripped bare, Adrien squeezed out of the pod with some difficulty, feeling his back scrape against the top of the exit hatch. But then he was out, and he was clear. The blackness was almost oppressive until the light-enhancement system of the VISR finally grew to full intensity.

Everything around them was black. When Adrien walked, the ground crackled and snapped as if he were moving on glass. There were still structures out in the distance that he could see, but they'd landed right in a patch of glasslands. Looking around, it took him a few moments for him to spot the other UNSC forces - little blips of light running across the glass. Dana was waiting for him net to her pod, as their course had them landing close by. She offered him a swipe of her fingers in front of her visor, and he replied with a nod, holding his shotgun against his chest. Together, the two walked over to where the lights were converging. It ended up being a bit of a jog, but they arrived within only five minutes or so, finding Fergus, Ezekiel and James standing next to several ODSTs. When he saw them, Ezekiel motioned for them to open short-range comms. It was the only thing they could allow themselves, just to be safe.

"What was the complication?" he asked when they'd both joined the frequency.

"My pod hit too hard, hatch was jammed," Adrien replied. "It was just shy of being too tight to squeeze out."

"Well, you're out. That's what counts. We've been talking to the ODSTs - one pod isn't responding, and another's heat shielding failed partway down. He's alive, but his armor's systems took a beating."

"Copy that," Adrien replied, looking up.

"And the pelicans?" Dana asked, looking upwards.

"Still descending. They're going silently as possible, but it will still take a moment. At least they'll be able to land well enough."

James looked out towards the distance, his posture thoughtful. Adrien found himself wondering what he was thinking. "James?" he asked.

"Covenant base should be situated several kilometers from here. We should try and cross the distance as soon as the pelicans arrive. Use them to close the gap before daybreak, settle in with less distance to cross. Then we can start recon."

Though he didn't speak, there was a flash of green in Fergus' status to denote his approval, though he continued speaking to the ODSTs. Others had begun to gather around; 18 in all, one that was limping faintly and that had visible scorch marks on his armor. Another walked right beside him, as if for emotional support. It was undeniable that the man would need to stay behind for much of the operation, perhaps assisting from one of the pelicans. He wouldn't be able to keep up otherwise.

Adrien turned to look out into the distance, but even the light augmentation of the VISR systems could only manage so much. He could just barely make out some ridges in the far distance, perhaps a dozen kilometers or so away. Just an outline. Anything between them and that was just a vague shadow.

"Location was situated north-northwest, right?" Dana asked, though her tone hinted at it being rhetorical. James and Adrien both looked at her, and she shrugged. "The Pelicans will be here soon enough, but we still need eyes on the ground. Adrien and I can scout ahead."

"I'd gauge the ridge to be about sixteen clicks," Adrien mentioned, squinting at the distant shape. "Eighteen minutes, maybe?" he mused, peering at the others and shrugging, arms wide and palms up. Dana raised her sniper rifle and peered through the scope before replying.

"About sixteen. Eighteen minutes to get there, plus climb. By the time everything is set up here, we could have a better idea of where we're going."

"Go," Fergus said, walking over from where he'd been talking. "We'll handle anything that comes our way here. I want us to know what we're heading into. You have full liberty to press on if you feel the need. Just leave us a sign. And remember - comms silent at the first sign of movement. Nothing beyond shortwave in the meantime."

They both nodded, then turned and set off. A red glow began emanating from behind them; Adrien guessed that the ODSTs had set a flare to mark the landing zone for the pelicans. The glow faded in moments as the two of them ran, their feet crunching against the obsidian-like glass. Dana was quiet, and he didn't have anything to say, and so they ran in a semi-companionable silence, their comms cut off. He had to pace himself - he was taller and faster, and if he pushed himself all the way he would push forward. Within a few minutes, they'd found a rhythm, tearing through the landscape. Eventually the glass began mixing with stone; here the ground became less regular. Little hillocks formed in their way; at one point they leapt over a crevasse that would have swallowed them were it not for the VISR system.

There was nothing out there. The entire world felt dead, and there were no lights, no sounds besides the whistling of the wind and the crunching of their footfalls. He kept his eyes peeled for any sign of movement, but there was none. James estimated that the relay station was likely shielded, meaning that they would have to assault it from the ground and take out the shield before anything more could happen - they'd also need to disable long-range communications. Ideally before the covenant knew they were there. If all went well, this would be over in a handful of days. If not… Well, there would be five less spartans and roughly forty less ODSTs in the world.

Just in case, he kept an eye on his motion tracker as they ran. He saw nothing; the only blip on it was Dana, maintaining a stable position right next to him. They were, for the time being, effectively alone. The minutes went by in silence as they ran in companionable silence, and soon enough they had reached the bottom of the ridge. Adrien holstered his shotgun on his back as Dana did the same with her sniper rifle; he turned just in time to see a faint light piercing through the cloud layer.

Turning back, they started climbing. It was steeper than he'd first expected, as if parts of the stone had broken off during the glassing, but what was left was irregular enough that handholds and footholds were aplenty. Climbing was slower than running, but after a time they reached a ledge that seemed to continue upwards, a kind of impromptu path that allowed them to speed up. It was steep, yes, but not so much that they couldn't run for the most part; they closed the distance in hardly two minutes after that, and together they crested the ridge.

Dana pulled out her sniper rifle almost immediately, aiming it down into the valley below. There was light, here. Faint, yes, but just enough for the VISR systems to paint a very different view than they had on the other side of the ridge. Far in the distance was some kind of fortification set up, and even from their position Adrien could see the covenant shield spire overlooking the whole thing, likely to protect from weather and the like. After perhaps a minute of looking, Dana passed him the sniper rifle and he peered through the scope.

It was like looking at the place in daylight. He began zoomed out, looking for any signs of activity closer to them - and there were. Little bits of light moved here and there, which he determined as patrols moving through the crevasses. Much closer to the spire he spotted vehicles - ghosts, wraiths, and covenant forces milling about. None appeared to be active, but it seemed as if they might have been there whilst awaiting retrieval.

The most worrisome presence was, besides the rough spaceport-looking construct and the shield spire itself, a Scarab. It looked dormant, as well, but if they attacked and that beast was let loose on them, it could well mean the end of their operation. Then again, it could just be the advantage they needed.

Then, to be safe, he zoomed out again and began looking at the lay of the land between them and the first patrols. He looked for deep shadows, openings, crevasses, anything that might cover them during the operation. One thing was nearly certain, however - those pelicans wouldn't do them any good past crossing that ridge. They'd be shot down in moments if the covenant spotted them. He let his gaze follow the crest of the ridge, looking for a flattened area, and he found it just behind a taller ridge to the northeast. Looking closer, he spotted a dark shadow on the opposite side of the ridge, and wondered if there might be a surviving cave system that they would be able to settle in.

He handed Dana's rifle back and spoke through his helm's outer microphones. "Twenty-five clicks to the nearest patrols," he said. She nodded.

"I counted the same. Did you spot the ridge to the northeast?"

"Yeah. We should check it out. Wouldn't want the covvies to spot the pelicans."

"Agreed. Wait here a moment, I'm going to signal Fergus."

She pulled back after handing him the sniper rifle once again, then moved over the top of the ridge, until she was out of sight. While she communicated using focused light signals, he raised the rifle and peered through the scope once again, following the various patrol movements from a distance. He couldn't see much, of course. There were too many rock formations that got in the way. He counted five patrols, but he guessed there would be more. Rather, he was certain of it. It was just a matter of not being able to see them yet. He let out a soft sigh as he changed his line of sight, focusing on the dark spot not far from the hidden plateau. He hoped it would be a cavern system, but the chances were it was just a depression. Still, if they could hide within the crevasses and find a way out that lead them close to the covenant fortifications, it would be worth it.

Dana came back a moment later, and she took the rifle when he handed it to her. "Time for some cross-country," she said. "James will come to the ridge with a fireteam of ODSTs, so that we can signal whether that plateau is clear or not."

"Well, we'd better get moving," Adrien said. Dana nodded, and they were off in moments.

They ran through the terrain, having to navigate only slightly less blindly than they had on the other side of the ridge. The land was far from even - they jumped across gaps just as much as they ran, which meant Adrien didn't have to work quite as much to hold to Dana's pace. He just ran, jumped, rolled, and clambered over bits of stone. The glass was less present here, and he guessed that the covenant must not have hit this area as hard as others. They must have passed beyond the border of whatever settlement had once been here.

He kept a careful eye on his motion tracker, just in case, but there was no real point. The covenant hadn't bothered to patrol this far out, and the wildlife was gone, completely and utterly. At one point he thought he passed the husk of a tree, but it could well have been a rocky spire. The wind was louder on this side, as well, and the light of the facility almost distracting. He thought he caught a flash of light in the corner of his eye…

He dove forward and tackled Dana to the ground, blinking his acknowledgement light amber twice. He looked back up, then motioned for Dana to look towards the location he'd noticed by pointing at his eyes with two fingers and then motioning towards the direction. She nodded, pulling out her sniper rifle slowly and aiming through her scope. Adrien squinted and tried to pick out what he'd seen. It was probably nothing, but something about it had made him move.

Dana made a quick motion and handed him the sniper, signaling some numbers by flashing fingers - positions. He looked through the scope at the exact orientation and waited - there. It was a short blink, but unmistakably a sniper, likely a Jackal. He didn't know what kind of scope it had on its weapon - not likely enough to see them, but it might be enough to detect movement. By the way it was looking around, he doubted it had seen them. It did, however, complicate things. They would need to be very careful.

He handed the rifle back to Dana and they both rose, but they moved more slowly, more cautiously, keeping their eyes peeled and sticking to the darker zones in the lay of the land. Their progress slowed to a proportional crawl, but reducing the risk of exposure was worth it. By the time they'd reached the plateau they'd seen no other signs of movement, and they set about scouting it out.

Adrien kneeled by one of the edges and looked for any signs of passage - disturbed dust or the like, shifted stones. He saw nothing, and while the lack of light didn't help, he guessed the covenant hadn't bothered to look around too much. Dana pulled away to look through the outer edge of the plateau, while he stuck to the inner side that was hidden by the small mountain. It was wide, flat, and overall seemed rather hidden. Lucky, all in all. When he reached the edge of the stone wall he peered around it, staring at the shield spire in the distance. If the pelicans could approach down low and then rise up, they could likely avoid being spotted.

He shifted away and moved towards where Dana stood, looking down. The outer edge of the plateau ended in a near-sheer drop.

"Cover looks good," he said. "If they come up that way, they should be able to avoid being located. The rock face will stop the covvies from seeing it, at least initially, but we'll still need to find someplace to hide. I saw something that might be a cave entrance while we were scoping the plateau out."

Dana looked to him and nodded. "Once James is up to date, we'll push forward. How far?"

"A click at most. West by southwest, under a rock formation."

Dana hummed, then nodded. "As good a place to start as any. Care to get James up to speed? I'll see what I can position as an LZ designator that won't give us away."

With a nod, he moved to the edge of the plateau and, making sure that he was hidden by the rock face, flashed his helmet lights twice in a focused beam towards the ridge they'd come from. He waited for a response, and two minutes after it hadn't come he flashed again.

The reply came on his third attempt. Adrien kept his message short and to the point, flashing his lights in morse code.

"_Found hidden plateau. Suitable for LZ. Covenant patrols and snipers spotted. Approach Pelicans low around ridgeline, climb after reaching designated location. Will mark with signal flare. Will scout for natural formations and report back. Over._"

There was a moment of waiting, presumably as the message was relayed, before James flashed a reply from the ridge.

"_Message received. Scout at will. Regroup at plateau 4 hours before daybreak. Three out_."

"_Five out._"

By the time it was done, Dana had joined him again. "Well," she said, "It wasn't the best solution, but it was one."

"Chemlights?" he asked out of curiosity. She nodded.

"I just hope they'll be visible enough. Dropped all the ones I had."

"In this darkness, I think just about anything would be enough."

As they spoke, they walked around the ridge, keeping low as they moved out into what could be the sniper's line of sight. Going was slow once again, and they moved carefully; when the opportunity presented itself to drop into what appeared like a small network of crevasses, they took it. Walking inside was easier; the ground was, surprisingly, more even, and they didn't have to worry quite as much about being spotted. It only lasted for so long, however; soon enough they had to climb their way back out and continue topside. Here they passed charred spires that Adrien was now sure were the remains of large trees. They hadn't been glassed, but they'd been burned by the temperatures before rapid cooling. It meant a little extra cover, and also some different kinds of land to maneuver through.

It took them a few minutes before he spotted the formation he'd noticed before. He didn't recognize it at first due to the different perspective; it was only when they'd gone around it that he recognized the shadows. They came close and found… a cave. Adrien let out a small sigh of relief at that, though it meant nothing unless they found the cave to be of suitable size. With a short nod to each other, they walked in and turned on their helmet lights.

Inside the passage was rather cramped. There was no way they'd be able to fit anything larger than a mongoose down the passage, which meant they would need to find somewhere else to stash the warthogs - perhaps in one of the many crevasses nearby. The tunnel dropped in several locations, but a few minutes of walking later, they found what they were looking for. The tunnel opened up into a full cavern. Not massive, no, but more than large enough to set up a forward operating base and store all their troops and supplies. They would need to close it off to set up a breathable atmosphere, but that could likely be done.

They crossed to the opposite end of the cavern; Adrien held his magnum just to be safe, but there was no movement. The opposite end opened into another tunnel, slightly larger than the entryway, that continued on into blackness. With a brief nod to each other, the two Spartans carried onwards.

* * *

Five hours before daybreak, Adrien and Dana pushed their way back onto the plateau. It had changed dramatically since they'd last left it; not so much due to the lay of the land changing, and more because of the sudden appearance of forty ODSTs, three other Spartans, two warthogs, and several cases of supplies, all being moved around and organized in near-zero light.

An ODST raised a weapon their way before registering their IFF tags, then nodded to them and motioned to the far edge of the plateau, where they could just barely register several figures appearing to speak together. They made their way over, walking around several ODSTs, until they reached the rest of Gauntlet. Fergus looked up at them and nodded. "Good, you're back," he said. "What did you find?"

"A full cavern system, sir," Adrien said.

"More than enough room to hide everything, save the warthogs," Dana added. "We'll need to improvise an atmospheric seal to make sure that everyone can breathe, but otherwise it's solid. And…" she said, trailing off.

Adrien grinned at his cue. "We've got some better news. The cavern system dives down for a while, but it splits apart and spreads out into several tunnels. We didn't have the chance to explore them all, but the one we did explore was moving somewhere along the lines of northwest for several kilometers, before rising out of the ground considerably closer to the enemy fortifications. I doubt it'll bring us anywhere too close to covenant, but it will help us close the distance."

Fergus looked between the two of them and nodded. "Good. That's very good. Alright, lieutenant," he said, looking to one of the three ODSTs that he'd been speaking with. "Time to move. We're burning moonlight, and we need to be underground before the sun comes up."


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Adrien sat on a bench in Camp Currahee, his hair sweaty after the most recent round of drills. They had been coming nonstop ever since… Well, ever since they'd first parachuted onto Onyx, really. A lot of moving and eating, drilling, and being yelled at in between lessons with Deep Winter. But they held on, all of them. Everyone in his squad was doing well. He was proud of them all, really. Proud of all of Beta company.

According to Winter, they'd be going through augmentation soon. The procedures would take some time, but the biggest difficulty would be reacclimating afterwards, or so he said. It had apparently taken Alpha company a few weeks. Beta was going to be better. Needed to be better.

He was pulled out of his reverie by… what, again? Was he really remembering, or was this something else? He got to his feet and looked around, but the sounds all faded and, as he walked back out towards the training grounds, everything started to fade away. No, no fade away, melt, melt into brittle black obsidian. He felt unnerved, reaching for a sidearm that wasn't there, waiting to see what was going to happen next.

And then he opened his eyes onto darkness. He was half-laying with his back against a rocky outcropping, nothing but stone in front of him. He looked to his left, and there was Dana. It took him a moment to notice that she'd actually moved. It almost felt as if she had remained stock-still before, in a few moments, he picked up on the subtle things - a shift in her shoulder, different placement for her rifle, an adjustment of her grip. She was fiddling with her scope, peering through it towards something out in the distance. Maybe one of the patrols had come through with a different route.

He took a quick drink of water from his helmet's rehydration system before shifting his head, sitting back up and looking over at her. "How long was I out?" he asked her, rolling his head from side to side.

"Three hours," she informed him. "I'm surprised you didn't take a little while longer, honestly. It's been a long few days."

"I feel fine," he said, slowly rising up to one knee and rolling his shoulder. It surprised him, actually. Despite the bizarre dream - he wouldn't call it a nightmare, per se - he felt well-rested and more than ready to go. "What did I miss?"

Dana turned to look at him for a brief moment before returning to her scope. "Bravo and Charlie patrols have passed back. That elite we marked down sticks with Bravo, but the rest of the squad layout seems to change. Waiting on Delta squad to appear next. They're scheduled for forty-five minutes and counting. Still no movement from any of the hardware."

"Any words on the snipers?"

"Spotted Jackals moving about, but they're all at far distance and they don't seem too serious. They must not expect anything. None have passed by here, but I did notice one moving towards tower seven, and another towards tower three."

"Any more than four?"

"Nope."

Adrien hummed at that. They'd found that four Jackal snipers were in operation at seemingly all times, each positioned at one of nine high points in the valley they'd dubbed 'towers' and numbered based on geographical position. Over the last two days, he and Dana had led reconnaissance efforts along with a handful of fireteams of ODSTs. They'd managed to avoid all contact with the enemy, which was just how Adrien liked it. No point giving off their presence. After figuring out the towers and the various patrol routes, they'd sent the ODSTs back to base with an update, while they'd settles into this small bit of stony ridge to keep watch on patrols and time them. Since they could manage to stay awake for longer and needed less sleep, it was the only responsible choice. Which reminded him…

"How long have you been up?" he asked Dana after a moment's thought. She seemed to pause - it was subtle, not something anyone who wasn't a Spartan would notice, but there was a sudden lack of motion in her rifle, just for a second.

"Fifty-seven hours," she replied at last, sounding almost reluctant to admit it.

"Your turn, then," he said, moving up next to her. She paused again before nodding, handing him the rifle, and dropping down so that now she was hidden by the rock wall, leaning up against it. He quickly looked through and adjusted his aim towards the point where patrol Charlie was set to arrive, then flashed a glance at her. She pulled off her helm and quickly chewed on a ration bar - it turned out that the atmosphere wasn't entirely unbreathable for someone with augmentations, at least for short periods of time, it just smelled extremely unpleasant. The oxygen and nitrogen levels weren't too far from what the human body was used to, but the air smelled horrible. Outside of the FOB, they avoided taking their helmets off for much longer than a few minutes, or however quickly they could manage to down a ration bar and get back in the suit.

Then it was done, her helm was on, and she leaned back. MJOLNIR stopped one from completely going limp when sleeping, but there were some small signs. She fell asleep damn near instantly; her could tell by the fingers of her hand relaxing, the way her foot shifted. Constantly being in the presence of one another for two weeks allowed one to pick up on such little signs. He found himself wondering which signs of his own he gave off as turned back to his scope and focused.

There was a lot of nothing out there. Long-range reconnaissance in this instance involved a lot of waiting for patrols to come by so that they could verify that they were all taking the same paths. They'd dubbed them based on the time they passed by starting from the midnight hour.

He went through mental exercises as he counted down the minutes as a way to keep focused and pass the time, looking at various points they'd marked as important. Thirty minutes later he thought he saw movement as he scanned past one of the trails - he snapped back to it. There. A lone elite walking past, looking around. He appeared considerably more attentive than Adrien would have expected. There was a pointedness to his walk, something about the way he was looking around that hinted at great care, even if there was nothing to see. He seemed to be following the trail patrol Echo was scheduled to take in another hour and change, but he didn't know why. Still, at this distance there was nothing to bother doing. He could only jot it down and make sure that Delta's patrol route was in his field of view.

Waiting at night was quiet; a lot of breathing. While it took the elite a few minutes to get out of his field of view, Delta patrol went by like clockwork thirteen minutes later; exactly one hour and fifteen minutes after Charlie, just like every time, passing along the same route. He jotted that down once again; once they knew when the patrols would be passing by and where, it would be easier to plan a route into the base.

A few minutes after he spotted more movement; a jackal was moving along the valley at speed, headed towards tower two; a moment later a flash of movement by tower five told him that the rotation was changing. Still only four. In theory, the jackals' placements would allow them to see a full area of the valley just outside of where, he guessed, the Spire's sensors would be able to pick them up, but in truth there were many, many gaps. One such was where he and Dana had set up, even if it was two kilometers southwest, and they'd uncovered dozens more. It was possible that the covenant didn't think anything would approach, and in normal circumstances they would likely be right. It was also possible the Jackals were lazy.

It was equally possible that they were missing something, but they hadn't uncovered a single extra variable in days and square kilometers of reconnaissance. The patrols were the last line of defense after the snipers, and Adrien and Dana had already managed to sneak past those by using crevasses, tunnels, and accurate timing the day before. With the patrols routes written down, he was sure that they would be able to get almost all the way to the base. They may not reach the shield spire undetected, but they had a plan for that.

He turned his scope to the spire to once again look at the mark. From this vantage point what he could see was very limited, but he could still spot the Scarab in its dormant state. A type 47A "Protos", it was exactly the kind of weapon that could be instrumental in destroying everything the covenant had on-world. James was already preparing a plan to get it, one which Adrien would likely be heavily involved in, based on what he'd overheard. The strike would likely be in only a day or so. They wanted this over with as soon as possible. Adrien felt much the same. He didn't mind scouting, but he felt ready to get moving. The longer they waited, the better the chances they would be found out, or that reinforcements could arrive. Speed was their greatest ally.

But he waited in silence as time passed, and Dana slept beside him, unmoving. They were clear to move through towards the base and take their time, but he didn't think they would have time to get back to the caverns before sunup. They would find an outcropping, crevasse or small cave to hole up in for the day, or to hide their movements.

After the second hour passed - after noting the passage of two more patrols, Dana finally shifted. It was a small thing - her head moved just a little, her fingers flickered. He lowered the rifle and handed it to her; she took it with a small nod, and he set his shotgun onto his back once more. "Two and a half," he told her briefly. She nodded and strapped on her gear while Adrien made sure they had left no marks of their passage. When he was certain they were in the clear, he motioned to her and they moved on.

They'd been doing this just long enough now that they knew the motions. They knew where the patrols passed and when, and so while the going was relatively slow as they crossed uneven terrain and kept to cover they moved without hesitation. The patrols kept a certain range from the facility; after but a few minutes they were past them and could start speeding up. Adrien guessed they had about an hour before he noticed something - just a little bit of sound over the wind. He motioned for Dana to stop and pulled over into cover. She followed and, backs pressed to stone, he slowly moved up towards the edge and peeked over for a brief moment.

Looking back and Dana, he raised one hand and raised three fingers, then made some quick signs to signal that there was a ghost. Another patrol they hadn't seen yet. The dark was on their side, however; the ghosts moved on into the distance and then they pulled out of cover and kept on moving. They ran hard to cover as much ground as possible before cutting off and moving in a roundabout fashion perhaps a kilometer or two out from the compound, taking great care to move in bursts and remain hidden. Thankfully, there were plenty of places to hide among the rough terrain, and they could push along the high ridgeline to get closer than they otherwise might. The closer they got to the spire, the more Adrien kept an eye on their surroundings for a good place to retreat back to during the day. Not that there was much more activity from the complex during daylight, but there was always a chance that they might be spotted.

Dana was the one that found a small cave, perhaps a kilometer and a half from the spire. It would be easy to return to just before daybreak, assuming nothing else kept them. They only had a few hours before daybreak, so they needed to work quickly.

The spire was set into a small valley below the mountains, if indeed they qualified as mountains. The ridge closest to it had been sheared straight down, creating a rock wall. There were snipers posted there, but they'd managed to pinpoint several locations in the surrounding area where they could get a good look at the base from perhaps five hundred meters away. One of these such areas was where they set up, on the side of the spire where most of the vehicles were placed. It took half an hour of climbing and hiking, but they managed to get in position and set up for surveillance. If it weren't for the planet being partially glassed, he doubted they would have been so sloppy in their setup. All the better for them.

Dana got prone and began peeking through her rifle's scope, while Adrien got to walking around the ridge, making sure there was nothing headed their way. He took great care to remain hidden. At this height, even the crunching of his boots was muted by the wind. He didn't see any movement; he could barely spot a sniper far in the distance, and he kept well out of sight. When he returned, Dana had moved just a little, looking over a different section of the base.

"What's new?" he asked.

"Nothing," she replied. It was a quick reply, but it spoke volumes. The layout hadn't changed. The covvies had to be waiting for a ship to come pick up what was there, or perhaps to deliver. Dana continued looking for some time; Adrien did another rotation of the ridge, then a second. It was on the second that he felt something off. On the opposite side of the mountaintop, he paused and looked out into the distance, the light of the spire at his back. Everything was still black out there, but there was something… off.

The wind. The wind had stopped. Normally it just faded into the background, but it was loud enough that you still heard it. It had fallen. Narrowing his eyes, he tried to will his VISR's light enhancement system to grow more powerful. It couldn't, of course. It was already operating at maximal capacity automatically. But he still saw something out there. Clouds. The clouds were shifting, and something was moving underneath them. It took until the wind to hit again - he felt it like a blow to his whole body, strong enough that were it not for the sheer weight of the MJOLNIR he likely would have been buffeted, that he realized what it was. _Stormwall_.

In any other place, he wouldn't have been overly worried, but between Alluvion's natural bodies of water being so large, and the impact of the glassing, effects on the weather patterns could be severe. It could well be a hurricane, and it was getting right on top of them. Without regard for being spotted, he ran back around and flashed a red squad light three times. When he reached Dana, she was already on her feet and ready to move. "Storm," he barked out. She seemed to understand, as by the time he was past her she was already moving. The whistling of the wind became obvious at this point, finally cresting over the ridge. Within the base, Adrien thought he spotted some movement as personnel - hardly even the size of ants - scurried along.

The gale hit in full force when they'd just reached the bottom of the mountain. Rain blasted onto them; though he couldn't feel it, the loss in visibility was immediate, and the loud patter was unmistakable. They sped up; they could hardly see ten feet ahead, and there was no way the snipers would be able to spot them. There was a flash and a loud crack from somewhere behind them as a bolt of lightning hit the ground. They'd reached a place where crevasses were plentiful, but they just leapt over ones they'd previously used as cover. Another flash of lightning lit up the sky white, and the helmet just barely managed to dull the roar as he held himself in check from sprinting, letting Dana take the lead.

They were moving half-blind, but Adrien eventually pulled forward when he recognized a stretch leading to the cave they'd spotted earlier. He vaulted over a rocky outcropping and kept running; down a path covered in glass, then back up stone that pushed out of it. More lightning went off around them; thankfully none of it too close, and each flash rendered him blind before, as it faded, he could just barely see the land as it was. The minutes went by in near silence as they ran; Adrien couldn't even hear his footfalls over the din. The wind was actually strong enough that it buffeted him at one point, when his footing was a little shaky. Water dribbled down his visor.

At last they began climbing once again, feet splashing in newly formed puddles. A small current had formed leading down from where the cave was. It made the ground slick, though not quite so slick that they would lose their footing, not in armor. They crossed the threshold of the cave just as another lightning strike hit. Adrien turned at the mouth of it and looked back; the sight of the valley just barely illuminated by the glare was, he found, almost beautiful. And then it was gone, replaced by a foggy blackness as the rain took hold.

He followed Dana deeper into the cave. It wasn't large by any means - perhaps all of Gauntlet could have fit in, but no more. Water was dripping down one wall and a puddle had formed underneath. Dana had already set down her rifle and sat, back to the dry wall in such a way that she could keep an eye on the entrance. He followed suit, sitting opposite to her.

"If only we'd known," she said almost wryly. Adrien smiled at that.

"Couldn't have, but we can catch up a little more."

"Or eat," she said. "Still have any ration bars?"

"Four," he told her. "You?"

"Three," she said, sighing. "This storm's probably going to last a good long while. Who knows, maybe it'll die off after sundown. That'd be handy."

"Yeah," he said. After a moment's waiting, he pulled off his helm and took a deep breath. The air smelled cleaner. Fresh. It smelled like rain. A pleasant change from the norm.

After a moment, Dana followed suit. In the dark, he couldn't see her; when lightning flashed, she was illuminated silver, her eyes looking white. But he saw that she was looking right at him. It was a split-second thing. She seemed contemplative. He waited a minute to see if she would ask anything, but nothing came. The silence was companionable, and they took a moment to lean back, relax, and rest they heads against the wall.

Eventually Adrien pulled out two of his ration bars and tossed one over. Dana caught it in a smooth motion, and he heard the packaging tear later. Spartans could eat regular rations, of course, but it seemed Fergus had learned a lot in his time in the field; every time they left they took ten bars that had been specially designed for Spartans, hyper-dense and packed with nutrients. They didn't taste like much and they took a while to chew even with a high-powered jaw, but they filled their bellies as well as any meal. Eating was silent as well. Adrien couldn't even hear himself chew over the distant roar of thunder. But it gave him time to think. Gave him time to wonder how the rest of Beta was doing.

The ration bars were gone in minutes, of course, and he stared at the vague silhouette that was his squadmate.

"What are your predictions?" she asked him. It surprised him, almost. She'd been rather quiet since landing. But the question got him to thinking, and he sat back.

"We'll get to the Scarab without much issue," he said. "But by the time we have it active they'll have noticed and probably mobilized. James will want us set on collecting wraiths to provide cover, and some ODSTs to mount the guns, but I think that getting into that spire and causing havoc will be important. If James takes the scarab, I'm thinking Ezekiel and I would be best set causing some mayhem."

"You're not wrong," she said. Adrien thought he could hear her smiling. Her amusement was palpable. "James has probably thought something along the lines. Fergus definitely has. But point it out to them when you get back. I'll see if I can't join you boys, too. Could definitely lay some covering fire from up there."

"Only question is how we get back down."

"What, you've never run down the length of a falling covenant structure only to land on a large piece of hijacked machinery? You'll get used to it quick."

"I imagine I will," he replied. "Fergus fond of those tactics?"

"Let's just say that he pushes MJOLNIR to the limit. But it's good. Helps you know what you can and can't do. Just be ready for anything. A beam rifle blast to the helmet will still cook you, and an angry brute can still get a good hit in if you're not careful."

"Lost an old Five?" he asked her, curious.

"No," she said. "We're actually a rare case of a squad keeping all its members since inception. So far, anyway. But Fergus has a lot more experience than we do."

"Spartans never die," Adrien said softly; he barely heard his own voice above the thunder and rainfall.

"How many more days until we strike, do you think?" he asked her, then, speaking up once more.

"Not long," she said. "We have the information we need. Once we get back to base and report in, I imagine James will have a plan ready in a few hours. After that it'll just be a matter of getting into position. No plan survives contact with the enemy, but we can do what we can to make sure as much it goes the way we want as possible."

They both went silent, then; Adrien finished his ration bar and lay back against the rock. "I'll take first watch," he said.

Dana was quiet for a moment; he saw shadows moving, and when she spoke he heard her voice through the helmet. "Wake me if you need me," she told him.

He followed suit in putting on his helm; He'd been blind, but now he saw. The VISR systems pierced through the darkness, though the outside was still a blinding maelstrom of rain. He picked up his shotgun, rested it across his knees, and waited. The rain, as expected, held out, and there was no sign of enemy forces for the hours that he watched. The storm died down as he slept, leaving a cloudy layer that turned the daylight gray and faded. Only when night fell did they push out again; this time they moved in sync back towards the base. They'd seen what they needed to, and learned what they'd set out to learn. Now it was time to regroup and plan.


End file.
